Yo Slacker!

Yes, I'm well aware that I have not been here. My computer is so effed you guys! I need to invest in a mouse, but this week I'm around a computer that works so you'll probably be hearing more from my end. In the meantime, know that I'm swinging from a hammock, cocktail in hand listening to Desmond Dekker... and that I love you.

Rose Rollins Visits TJO

It's been a long time nan.

So we're in homestretch, as another "season" of TJO comes to a close I hope you'll check in during the break for your weekly fix of some newishy music. This week, while I wasn't making Liz uncomfortable with my hand gestures, we went to the top of Speck Mountain. This Chicago based quartet says on their myspace page:

Speck Mountain are an ambient-soul band possessed as much by the grit of southern soul as the spell of infinite drones. Co-leaders Karl Briedrick and Marie-Claire Balabanian provoke each other with intuitive, womb-curled melody, exploded texture, and spiky, strutting rhythm—and so far I’m just talking about the guitars. Marie-Claire also keeps a full-sized Aretha loaded in her throat like some kind of ungodly spring reverb, but has the sense to only let her uncoil just enough, never overdoing it. Karl and Marie-Claire fill out the songs with lyrics in thrall to the mysteries of compulsion, and the ache and rapture of giving in.

Sonically Speck Mountain are in thrall to vintage effects and recording techniques, although they’re always looking for the future rather than the past. Their studio mixes are subtle and painstaking, booby-trapped all over with headphone-happy detail. Their live sets project a loose, narcotic swagger, taking off from atmospheric majesty into full-on hypnotic assault.

Here is a link to the session they did with daytrotter.

And I am not kidding when I tell you that you will fall in love with Melody Gardot! I did, first listen. Caleb is playing a bellhop in her new video that our friend Aaron Platt is DP'ing, and in the immortal words of my cousin she is, "totes brill".



Sorry this is a little bit of an in and out burger, but I have to be honest when I tell you that I am sofakinghungover today.

Love you, mean it.

GUEST BLOGGIN LIKE ITS 2003

So Raimy didn't feel like blogging today.. so she asked me.. (Holly). But I'm blanking.. so I asked Megan and Timmy for help.. The pressure is on.. its getting late.. this is what we came up with. A step back from popular culture, music, and all the new hip things that Raimy always seems on the cutting edge of.. sit back and enjoy kids..




and



and



and



you're welcome raimy

love,
Brooklyn

Obama's Elf

TJO Visits Top Chef's Jamie Lauren In San Fran!

Thanks for tuning in for another episode of your favorite kitchen table comedy show! We're sorry for the delay, this week Liz welcomes Top Chef's Jamie Lauren. Liz and I took a belated birthday road trip up to San Fran to check out the scene and interview this cutie-patootie.

Sonically we talked about Sky Larkin, the Leeds trio whose album The Golden Spike is available now on Wichita Recordings in the UK. The band is on tour in the EU with Johnny Foreigner. They are playing a few dates stateside during SXSW. Check them out!



Dark Was The Night is the 20th compilation from the Red Hot Organzation, which celebrates 20 years of activism this year. Red Hot was founded on the premise that even without a cure, AIDS remains a preventable disease - using music as a great vehicle to raise both money and awareness for it.

Here is the list of artists who contributed tracks on Dark Was The Night:

Andrew Bird
Antony + Bryce Dessner
Arcade Fire
Beach House
Beirut
Blonde Redhead + Devastations
Bon Iver
Bon Iver & Aaron Dessner
The Books featuring Jose Gonzalez
Buck 65 Remix (featuring Sufjan Stevens and Serengeti)
Cat Power and Dirty Delta Blues
The Decemberists
Dirty Projectors + David Byrne
Kevin Drew
Feist + Ben Gibbard
Grizzly Bear
Grizzly Bear + Feist
Iron & Wine
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
Kronos Quartet
Stuart Murdoch
My Brightest Diamond
My Morning Jacket
The National
The New Pornographers
Conor Oberst & Gillian Welch
Riceboy Sleeps
Dave Sitek (TV On The Radio)
Spoon
Sufjan Stevens
Yeasayer
Yo La Tengo

Pretty incredible right? Dark Was The Night is available today on 4AD.

Ok, off to meet Feldo for coffee.

Lez Babies Drawing by Fickle Pixie

Thank you Fickle Pixie, this is so great!

Fever Ray Video - "When I Grow Up"

Remember when you shed a tear after you learned that the Knife was kaput? I did... half a tear, only because I knew in my heart of hearts it wouldn't be long before a solo project popped up. Fever Ray, aka the Knife's Karin Dreijer is releasing the full self-titled LP on Mute next month.

When I Grow Up from Fever Ray on Vimeo.
[via Stereogum]

Presidents Day In The U.S. - No TJO Today

Happy Presidents Day America!

This morning Rick and I woke to:

A. The rain outside our windows
B. No power
3. A text from everyone's favorite V-hole that This Just Out will return to Afterellen tomorrow.

We've got power back now, but I ain't going nowhere. Thankfully, I live with people cool enough to have industry screeners. This is how I will spent a bleak Prezzy Day in Los Angeles: The Reader and a broken Bodum.

Here are some things to keep you occupied:

Boing Boing tips on where you can find 250,000 CC-licensed sketches, and they also introduce us to sushi cake.
Largehearted Boy has this weeks releases and re-issues. Some really juicy stuff!
Lissy Trullie has a track up on Stereogum.
Shilpa Ray & Her Happy Hookers have an exclusive download up @ RCRDLBL. (It's awesome!)
The SXSW schedules are up.
And just in case you spent Valentine's Day having dinner with two happy couples, drank three martini's and went to bed before midnight and thought to yourself: FAIL. These poor schmucks have you beat.

Here is a sweet song to get you through the day, it's Peasant- 'We're Good'



TJO is back tomorrow with a very cute guest.

M.I.A had her baby!

We've got another Aquarius on our team.


[Steeztube]

Love Spreads Like Butta

This is a pepper that went into the "Use these veggies before they spoil" scramble this morning... I think it had a message for me. And it was Happy Valentine's Day!

Love. Yay.

PLAYGROUND LOVE from ABOVE on Vimeo.

GMSH Silkscreen Party In LA Tonight!!!

Best E-mail of the day... so far.

Greetings all, I wanted to let you all know about the Goldmine Shithouse silkscreen party in LA on Friday the 13th. It is at Nomad which is in Frog Town, close to Dodgers Stadium. We are in the middle of our 2 week residency and like to celebrate the way we do, so come and bring your own stuff to be screened and we do it for 5 bucks per thing. The space is beautiful, huge and run by some amazing folk. We love them a lot. Come see work in progress maybe and get a print, no?
There will also be live music starting at 9ish provided by Vatos Sin Negros(Juan, Cedric, Adrian{Mars Volta}, and Money Mark) Some free beer while it lasts and good times.
Come celebrate our halfway point with us, and do make it to the opening on the 21st..I will send another invite reminder 'bout that. Here is the skinny
GMSH Silkscreen party.

Nomad LA 1993 Blake Ave..LA.CA 90049
Friday 13th.7pm til?
www.nomadlosangeles.com

New: Peter, Bjorn & John - 'Nothing To Worry About'

Is it me? Or does the beginning sound like Justice - 'D.A.N.C.E'.

Thursday. Is it!

OK. Some stuff to consider while I take the day to catch up on "Work".

Shilpa Ray and Her Happy Hookers are on the rise, you should be on this like cheese to macaroni.
Rachel Maddow inspired Valentine's Day e-cards for the lades. No, I don't think she made these herself.
Devolve yourself, no this isn't the same thing as leaving Legion at 4:30am after Amy has poured you 6 shots of well whiskey.
David Vandervelde visits Daytrotter.
Indie Music Filter discovered Holly Miranda.
Guitar Center tells customer to suck it. Not really though.
There used to be a store in SoHo called Think Big, it was cool. Now there is a similar place for over-sized toothbrushes like the ones in My Two Dads on the interwebs.
... and yes my children, McCarren Pool is going to be a pool. For realz.

Bustin' Tahiti Boy and the Palmtree Family

Tahiti Boy and the Palmtree Family made their P4k and Stereogum debut today, which means all us bottom feeders are re-blogging about them a few hours after the fact. The track "That Song" features Tv On The Radio's Tunde Adebimpe (yes, that guy from Rachel Getting Married) and is graced with whispers of AIR and Phoenix on Quaaludes. The track is served well as a Sunday morning alarm or a late night cap on an evening running around the city of light.

Personally, I'm listening to it trying to decide if I should leave my house tonight.

They are playing some dates in NYC/Austin:

03/15 - Brooklyn, NY @ Zebulon
03/16 - Hoboken, NJ @ Maxwell's
03/17 - New York, NY @ Pianos
03/18 - Austin, TX (SXSW)
03/19 - Austin, TX (SXSW)
03/20 - Austin, TX (SXSW)
03/21 - Austin, TX (SXSW)

Clip "1973" - Tahiti Boy & the Palmtree family
by ThirdSideRecords

Animal Collective - 'Brother Sport' @ Midi Festival

If you could write your own, what would you want your fortune to be?

This Just Out: Backstage With Tegan And Sara

Mewoskers! Some poor kitty got tore up outside my window last night. Coyotes. It pulled me right out of the sleep-aid sleep I was in, so thanks to the entire pack for that. Feldman and I were on the road all day yesterday so I apologize for not blogging about it, but I'm here now.

I hope you liked our Valendoom’s Day broke-ass gift suggestions.



Did you like Crystal Stilts? If you did you'll also like Women, no not that kind, Women the band. Women is Chad VanGaalen's touring band, they're from Calgary (that's Canada people) VanGaalen recorded the album for Women and now they are on tour through Europe and the states with some other rad bands like, Gang Gang Dance, Abe Vagoda, Braids, Wavves and Ta-Da! Crystal Stilts.

Holly introduced me to Land Of Talk this past summer. Do you have a crush on Lizzie Powell yet? You do? Good.

Download these kids above, and put them on an old USB flash drive along with the other music we've told you about on TJO. It is by far, one of the best things you could give to the one you smooch and stalk online. If you only stalk online, just e-mail a track and that way you won't break the terms of the restraining order.

Ok, off to get some coffee.

Suck It Guitar Hero.

One thing you wouldn't have read about me on the "25 Random Things About Me You Really Don't Care To Know About Me But In Order To Participate In The Experiment You Had To Tag Me In Your Note" is that I still wish I had continued with guitar lessons in 10th grade. I'm not even coordinated enough to play Guitar Hero, I am however a brilliant cheater and Eugene Chong created the perfect product for people like me...

Designer Eugene Cheong brings you “Maestro,” laser and mp3 guitar learning aid. You put mp3s into the device via SD card, the songs are converted into guitar tablature, and the tablature is projected, with laser lights, onto the guitar fretboard as you play. No longer will there be a barrier between you and the great and powerful rock and roll god!

Click here for more info about Maestro.

I just want a guitar with a fricken laser beam attached to its neck.

Birthday Eve

Woo Hoo! Rain in Los Angeles, suddenly when it rains in L.A. people forget how to drive. It's incredible to watch your most adept Audi drivers going idiot savant when the water hits the pavement. I love when it rains here, we seldom get weather in Southern California.

T-minus 8 hours until my birthday and it's supposed to rain for the next couple of days. I was born in a blizzard, it wouldn't be the first time the weather sucked on my birthday. It would almost be weird if it was nice out.

That said, I'm a little lazypants today so here are a few things to see and do while I cozy up on the couch and watch Cloverfield for the third time.

New Bat For Lashes single [Stereogum]
Pitchfork, Kanye West and Tripwire all blog about my best friend.
RIP Lux Interior [MTV Obit]
Buzzfeed re-blogs Dan Deacon's genius Drinking Out of Cups [Buzzfeed]
Now you can follow your favorite musicians on twitter
Largehearted Boy has some legal downloads for you. [Largehearted Boy]
I want one of these.
Why are music blogger posts disappearing [LA Times]
RIP Vice Magazine Dos & Don'ts column [Vice]
... and finally, The Wooster Collective is still where I go after checking my e-mail. Oh! Someone please make me this for my birthday

I love this little bugger.

[via Buzzfeed]

It's All Happening

So yeah, I totally flaked on posting for the show today. Hope you enjoyed it.

Flying back to Los Angeles in the morning, so again, the posts will be thin tomorrow as well. In the meantime, Get Glucky has a live video of Holly Miranda and her band doing "Joints" at Zebulon. It's a music blog worth taking a look at.



Also Tripwire has "Slow Burn Treason" for download here.